Background Detail
This information can be used as a quick and convenient way to give a character more depth. As well as name lists for Human citizens of The Empire, Dwarfs, Elves, Halflings, and Gnomes, there are tables for determining a character's height and weight, hair and eye colour, distinguishing characteristics, place of birth, and family background. Players can use this chapter to breathe life into a newly created character very simply. At the GM's option, players can pick from the various tables or reroll or ignore results that don't match with their developing conception of their character. Also, the GM has the final say on whether and to what extent a character's distinguishing characteristics affect his or her profile. The GM can use this chapter to develop interesting NPCs just as quickly. A conversation overheard in a tavern becomes all the more interesting if one of the speakers is a huge man with red hair, a strawberry birthmark, and one eye, while the other is a scrawny-looking Dwarf with many scars and a stutter, rather than if they are both generic and undescribed cardboard cut-outs. Character Names Human Names Forenames The following lists give common Imperial forenames. You can select names from the list as you need them or roll D1000 if you prefer. The list is not exhaustive, but includes most of the more popular forenames of use in the Empire. In the tables, some names can have more than one form (including informal shortened forms) and these are shown under the same listing. Some of the names are followed by a number; the meanings of these are as follows: #These names can be combined to produce a compound name, e.g. Karl-Franz, Hans-Peter, Anne-Lise, Marie-Astrid. This pracice is most commonly used among members of the nobility. #These names are archaic, but are still in use occasionally. They are most popular among the nobility and the older generations. #These names show Kislevite influence. They are most common in the north and east of the Empire, but are not unknown elsewhere. #These names show Wastelander influence; they are most common in the northwest of the Empire, but are also used in other areas. #These names show Norse influence; they are most common in the extreme north of the Empire, but are also used in other areas. #These names are more common in the south of the Empire than elsewhere. #These names show Bretonnian influence; they are most common in the west of the Empire, but are also used in other areas. Surnames As in mediaeval Europe, the forename is most commonly used to identify a person and the surname is used when the identification needs to be more precise - when the use of the forename alone is not sufficient. Family surnames aren't always handed down from parent to child, as we do today. Instead, most people adopt their surname when they leave home or become adult to distinguish themselves. Often, this will mean using a 'family' name, but there are many cases of children giving themselves an entirely new surname. Surnames can be drawn from a variety of sources. Place names: For example, Johann Dunkelberg, 'Johann from Dunkelberg'. Any of the various placenames mentioned in the Empire would be usable as a surname. The nobility often add 'von' or 'von der' before the placename, particularly in cases where the surname is part of a title. Occupation: For example, Johann Schmidt, 'Johann the Smith'. This can become fossilised in use and it is quite common for a character to be known by the occupation of his or her parents or grandparents, whe he or she actually follows a quite different profession; so 'Johann the Smith' might actually be a carpenter or a boatman. Of course, if Johann wishes to be known as Johann Zimmermann (Johann the Carpenter) or Johann Bootmann (Johann the Boatman), there's nothing to stop him from changing his surname - he simply does it! An English-German dictionary can be a very usefly source of names of this type. A few surname associated with common professions are listed below: Nickname: For example, Johann Grosz, 'Johann the Fat'. If a character has a particularly noticeable physical trait which people use to refer to them, this might be used as their surname. Using the list of physical traits below together with an English-German dictionary can give you a wide range of descriptive surnames. Here are a few examples: Parent or Ancestor: For example, Johann Hanson, 'Johann, son of Hans'. Naming yourself after a famous parent or ancestor - real or imagined - is very common. Sigmarsson may be one of the most-used surnames in the Empire. This form of surname is particularly prevalent in the north of the Empire, possibly as a result of Norse contacts and influence. The form 'von' is sometimes used to imply a connection with a famous person - von der Magnus, for example. With an English-German dictionary and a bit of imagination, you can come up with many more surnames for PCs and NPCs. The nobility will use 'von' more often than the lower classes, and the artisan classes - where one family has been in the same business for generations - will often take the name of their craft for their own. In general, surnames derived from placenames and nicknames will be most common amongst the peasantry and the urban lower classes. 'Hans Brandstadt', for example, won't be very effective as a name if Brandstadt has thousands of inhabitants and every fifth male is called Hans, while 'Lugwig Johannsson von Altdorf' is too grand-sounding to be a good name for a thief or beggar - a nickname like 'Flink' ('the nimble') would sound better. Dwarfish Names A Dwarf's full name consists of three elements: the forename or personal name, the surname, and the clan name. There is a complex Dwarf etiquette governing the use of names, but for most practical purposes, the more formal the circumstances, the more lengthy the name used. In certain circumstances, a Dwarf's standing in his craft also becomes part of his name. So, for example, Master Jeweller Snorri Bardinsson of the Makhzad Clan would use his full name and title in a guild or hold ceremony. Those addressing him would call him by different names according to their relative status: superiors would call him Snorri Bardinson, while equals and inferiors would call him Master Snorri if they were also jewellers, or Master Jeweller Snorri, if they were from other craftguilds. When talking about him in the third person, his surname is always used. Close friends, and relatives of the same generation, would just call him Snorri - relatives of older or younger generations would add a suffix such as Uncle, Nephew, Cousin or Grandfather, describing the nature of their relationship to him. Forenames Dwarfs follow a similar practice to humans, naming an infant at birth. Some names reflect tradition - in the Garkniz Clan of Karak-Hirn, for example, the first-born male of each generation is always named Gottri - while others commemorate a venerated clan ancestor or great hero. The generations immediately after the War of Vengeance, for example, saw a rise in the popularity of Gotrek as a forename, after the victorious king High King Gotrek Starbreaker. A few names are given to reflect the virtues that the parents hope their offspring will have; Gorm, for example, is associated with wisdom, Grim with prowess in battle, and Dwinbar with skill at craftsmanship. Surnames Dwarf surnames are based on the parent's name - the mother's name is used for girls, and the father's name for boys. Gotrek Gunnisson, for example, is Gotrek, the son of Gunni, while Katrin Sifnasdottir is Katrin, the daughter of Sifna. Orphans are raised by their nearest relatives, and their surname refelcts this: Thorri Yadrisnev - Thorri, the nephew of Yadri, was obviously raised at his uncle's hearth, and Sigrid Valasniz was raised by her aunt. On the extremely rare occasions when a newborn Dwarf is a foundling of unknown descent, the surname Khazadson - "son of a Dwarf" - is used in formal circumstances; informally, the surname consists of the step-parent's name with the suffix ''-find'', meaning "found by". In this way, Grim Khazadson, raised by Morek Skalfsson, uses the surname Moreksfind in everyday circumstances, to indicate which family he belongs to. Nicknames Many Dwarfs also have nicknames, derived from oustanding deeds or quirks of their personality or appearance. In less formal circumstances, a nickname may be used in place of the surname: Snorri Burnt-Thumb instead of Snorri Bardinson, commemorating the time as an apprentice when young Snorri absent-mindedly picked up a brooch blank that was still hot from casting. A Dwarf may not choose his own nickname; it must be given him by his master. This is one of the many reasons why Dwarfs take great care about what they do - no one wants to be stuck for life with an embarassing or unflattering nickname! Male nicknames are often based on physcial appearance, strength, or martial prowess. Examples of these surnames include Greathammer, Stonefist, and Deadeye. Nicknames must be unique, as much as possible, since adopting the same nickname as an older Dwarf - especially a great king or hero - is regarded as presumptious, and an insult to the nickname's original bearer. The only exception to this rule is when the original bearer of the nickname gives it freely to the younger Dwarf. The nickname Stonehammer, for example, has been passed down through the Kings of Karak Ungor for generations, along with the great stone warhammer from which it derives. A Dwarf who is given a nickname in this way is responsible not only for hsi own honour, but also for the honour of the nickname and all its previous bearers; this is taken very seriously indeed. Female nicknames are not so exclusive as male ones, and tend to be based on temperament as much as appearance and achievement. So many Dwarf maidens have been nicknamed "the Fair" or "the Beautiful" that these names have become debased by over-use, and have fallen out of currency in recent centuries. However, nicknames like Goldenhair, Sapphire-Eyes and Finehand are still popular, and even more lavish and flattering nicknames are given by suitors in the hope of winning a Dwarf maiden's heart. It is a sign of great favour when a Dwarf maiden accepts a nickname from a suitor. Clan Names Dwarf clan names were originally established in the same way as nicknames. They may have been the personal nickname of a founding ancestor, or they may be a nickname that was applied to the clan as a whole at or around the time of its founding. For example, tradition states that the ruling Durazklad or "Stone armour" clan of Karaz-a-Karak draws its name from an incident in the time of the Ancestor Gods, when Kargun Gormsson, unable to afford metal armour, used his stoneworking skills to make himself a helmet and breastplate of granite. The nickname that he gained from this feat became the name of the clan he founded, and his stone armour is still in the clan's vault at Karaz-a-Karak. Elven Names The Elves - being typically complicated - use a system of names with is almost incomprehensible to outsiders. The principle is to have a name which sounds beautiful (apparently the consonants 'l' and 'r' make particularly beautiful sounds) and which has a beautiful meaning. However, the meaning attached to a name is often whatever the name-bearer wants it to be. The Dwarfs delight in telling the story of an Elven Prince who insisted that his name was translatable as 'Far-Wisdom', but the words of which it consisted could also be translated as 'Belch Eyeballs'. Elven names defy analysis. The use of one, two, or three names is equally common and each name is normally made up of two parts, each providing something to the overall meaning. Occasionally, an Elf who has taken to living in Human society will adopt one or more names which are from the Old Worlder tongue. Such names tend to express rural themes and continue the Elven tradition of something which sounds beautiful and expresses 'noble' feelings. Goldleaf, Dewgatherer, Airwarmth, and Greenlight are common such names. The table below allows you to create more traditional Elven names; roll once for a prefix and then again for a suffix and blend the two parts together, adding or deleting extra letters to make an easily-pronounceable name. Both names come from the same stock of elements and there does not appear to be any distinction between 'forenames' and 'surnames' in Elven eyes. Some Elven names, particularly those of the little-seen Elven nobility, may have three elements (effectively they have two suffixes); this is rumoured to be a High Elf tradition, but it is not sure that even the Elves know this for certain. There is very little difference, to non-Elves at least, between Elven male and female names. Dwarfs and some Humans gleefully contend that this is because there is very little difference between male and female Elves in all other respects. Names generated using the table above are suitable for Elves of either sex, although most names can be given an emphatic feminine form by removing the last consonant and/or adding a vowel to the end, hence Sarellian can become Sarellia or Sarelliane. Halfling Names Forenames Being the most Humanised of the non-human races, Halflings often use names which are largely recognisable as being in Old Worlder. The Halflings of the Moot use those Imperial names which they find pleasing. Although they love long and grand-sounding names for their genealogies, they also like a name which can be shortened comfortably for everyday use. Names like Maximillian - shortening to Max, Ludwig - shortening to Ludo, Thomas, Hugo, Adam, Albert, Agnes, Eva, and Frida are all common among Halflings. Essentially, if a Human name has a 'cosy' sound (or, better yet, sounds vaguely grand and has a cosy-sounding abbreviation), it will appeal to the Halflings. The use of nicknames and pet-names is also common; a Halfling will always have a 'proper' forename for use in family trees and so on, but Heironymus Greenhill may be known as Hiro or even Scrumper to his friends and non-Halflings might know him by that name for years without finding out his 'proper' name. Surnames Halflings prefer distinctive and cosy-sounding surnames and, if two Halflings have the same surname, then they are definitely related somehow. It may take several dozen generations (and a like number of fruit pies and spiced ales) to trace their connection, but it will definitely be there and they will find it in the end. Names like Haleberry, Greenhill, Furfoot, Hayfoot, Greendale, Warmfeet, and Brandysnap are common and show off the Halflings' love of food and drink and their pride in their hairy feet. Gnomes Gnomes are similar in most regards to Dwarfs. Weight The following tables can be used to generate a character's weight. Roll on Weight Table 1 to determine a character's build and apply any modifiers to the roll on Weight Table 2. Consult Weight Table 3 to determine whether there are any further modifiers owing to the character's height. Weight Table 4 is optional; it can be used if you wish to make female characters generally lighter than males. Finally, Weight Table 5 can be used as an option, to reflect how the weight of entremely fat or thin characters affects their profiles. Weight Table 1: Build *''Puny'' characters must subtract 20 from their roll on Weight Table 2 and subtract 2D10 lbs from their final weight. *''Light'' characters must subtract 10 from their roll on Weight Table 2. *''Average'' characters have no modifier. *''Heavy'' characters add 10 to their roll on Weight Table 2. *''Massive'' characters add 20 to their roll on Weight Table 2 and add 2D10 to their final weight. Weight Table 2: Base Weight (in lbs) Weight Table 3: Height Modifier (in lbs) Weight Table 4: Gender Modifier (in lbs; Optional) Weight Table 1 assumes a male character; for female characters, apply the following additional modifiers. Weight Table 5: Characteristics Modifiers (Optional) If a character is a lot heavier or lighter than average, the GM may optionally impose some modifiers to the character's profile. To find out whether a character is seriously overweight or underweight, look up the final weight on the appropriate column of the Weight Table 2 and refer back to the dice roll column. A character is overweight if the final weight corrosponds to a dice roll of 96 or more and underweight if the final weight corrosponds to a dice roll of 05 or less. Thus, a Human character weighing 200 lbs or more is overweight and a Human character weighing 115 lbs or less is underweight. Profile adjustments may be generated using the following table: Hair Colour Use the table below to generate characters' hair colour. Notes: #Dwarfs and Elves often dye their hair; this table only gives the base colour. #Not necessarily the original colour. For older characters (Humans of 35+, Dwarfs of 90+, Elves of 100+, Halflings of 70+, Gnomes of 80+), players can make two rolls. The first is the 'natural' hair colour. The second, if the result is white, shows that the hair has turned grey or white with age. This table is based on the normal colours for characters from the Empire, the Wasteland, Bretonnia, Albion, and Kislev. If the character was born anywhere else, some modifiers should be allowed. Norse Dwarfs and Humans, for example, could roll 3D20, while Tileans or Estalians might roll 3D10+70, and characters from Araby might roll D6+94. Eye Colour Use the following table to generate characters' eye colour. This table is based on the normal colours for characters from the Empire and holds good for the Wasteland, Bretonnia, Albion, and Kislev as well. If the character was born anywhere else, some modifiers should be allowed. Norse Dwarfs and Humans, for example, could roll 2D20 or 3D20 to get the result, while Tileans, Estalians, and Arabs might roll 3D10+70 or even D10+90. Players might also wish to disallow certain hair/eye colour combinations, if a bizarre mix is going to jar their sensibilities. It is probably best to generate hair colour first and re-roll any eye colour rolls that don't suit. As an option, you might allow a character a 1% chance of having eyes of different colours; while this will make the character interesting and instantly recognisable, it might be taken in some quarters as the mark of Chaos... Distinguishing Characteristics The table below gives certain peculiarities and physical traits which can form the basis of a character description. Some of them have suggested modifiers. GMs may use these modifiers for NPCs if desired and may even apply them to player characters, if they are sure players will accept bad rolls as well as good. Most characters will have D6-2 Distinguishing Characteristics. (Treat 0 or less as 0.) Place Of Birth The following list of places gives some guide as to the likely birth-places of characters beginning their adventuring careers in the Empire - specifically around Altdorf, although the table can be adjusted as required for adventurers starting in any other part of the Empire. It is assumed that few characters will have travelled far to get to this point and, therefore, that foreigners will be rare. PCs ought to come from the Empire, unless the GM has a strong reason for deciding otherwise. If an NPC comes from a part of the Old World which has not been sufficiently detailed, the GM can be vague about his or her origins - it wouldn't be anywhere the Player Characters would have heard of anyway. Maps of The Empire will likely show the locations of the places listed on the tables. Humans Use Origins Table 1 and, if necessary, Origins Table 2 to determine where Human characters come from. Origins Table 1: The Empire |- | style="text-align: center;"|51-54 | Grunburg |- | style="text-align: center;"|55-59 | Auerswald |- | style="text-align: center;"|60-63 | Delberz |- | style="text-align: center;"|64-67 | Dunkelburg |- | style="text-align: center;"|68-71 | Carroburg |- | style="text-align: center;"|72-74 | Schoppendorf |- | style="text-align: center;"|75-77 | Stimmigen |- | style="text-align: center;"|78 |Blutroch |- | style="text-align: center;"|79 |Weissbruck |- | style="text-align: center;"|80 | Bogenhafen |- | style="text-align: center;"|81-83 | Kemperbad |- | style="text-align: center;"|84-86 | Ubersreik |- | style="text-align: center;"|87-88 |Marienburg |- | style="text-align: center;"|89-90 | Nuln |- | style="text-align: center;"|91 |Averheim |- | style="text-align: center;"|92 |Streissen |- | style="text-align: center;"|93 |Wurtbad |- | style="text-align: center;"|94 |Talabheim |- | style="text-align: center;"|95 | Middenheim |- | style="text-align: center;"|96-00 |Foreigner: roll on Origins Table 2 |} Origins Table 2: Outside The Empire |- | style="text-align: center;"|26-45 | Kislev |- | style="text-align: center;"|46-70 | Estalia |- | style="text-align: center;"|71-90 | Tilea |- | style="text-align: center;"|91-98 |Border Princes |- | style="text-align: center;"|99-00 | 'Outworlder' |} Dwarfs By and large, Dwarfs will be from the same kind of places as Humans; the kind of Dwarf who becomes an adventurer is going to have been reasonably 'humanised' anyway. Place Of Birth Players wishing to create a Dwarf adventurer may roll on the Dwarf Origin Table or, at the GM's discretion, they may choose a birthplace for their character. Alternatively, the GM may reserve the right to assign a birthplace to a newly created Dwarf character, if it is in the interests of the campaign to do so. The table is heavily weighted in favour of Expatriate Dwarfs, since they form the majority of the Old World's Dwarfen adventurers; in the more traditional culture of the Dwarfholds, duty to clan, hold and crafsguild prevent all but a few Dwarfs from leaving to take up an adventuring life. Dwarf Origins Table Dwarf Settlement Tables |- | style="text-align:center;"|26 |Hochland (Bergsburg) |- | style="text-align:center;"|27-30 |Middenheim (urban) |- | style="text-align:center;"|31 |Middenheim (rural) villages |- | style="text-align:center;"|32-33 | Middenland towns |- | style="text-align:center;"|34 | Nordland towns |- | style="text-align:center;"|35-45 |Nuln (urban) |- | style="text-align:center;"|46-48 |Nuln (rural) villages |- | style="text-align:center;"|49 | Ostermark towns |- | style="text-align:center;"|50-51 | Ostland towns |- | style="text-align:center;"|52-70 | Reikland towns |- | style="text-align:center;"|71-78 | Stirland towns |- | style="text-align:center;"|79-83 | Sudenland towns |- | style="text-align:center;"|84 | Talabecland towns |- | style="text-align:center;"|85-86 |Talabheim (urban) |- | style="text-align:center;"|87 |Talabheim (rural) villages |- | style="text-align:center;"|88-00 | Wissenland towns |} Elves Elves do not normally come from the same loctions as the other races. Since Player Characters should only be Wood Elves, the potential locations are very limited. Also, Elves do not freely talk about their homelands for fear that this information would be used by an enemy. Therefore, most Elves talk of their home as being 'The Forest'; if pressed - and if they trust the questioner with the information - they might nominate the particular forest, but they will not divulge the name of the actual settlement. If an Elven placename is important to you, then use the table given earlier for generating Elven names, following the pattern 'Prefix-PrefixSuffix'. The resulting name may be hyphenated if you wish (as in Terr-Edririel, Far-Farcoral, or Ullialor-Galiel). To generate the Forest-homeland randomly, use the following table: Halflings Halflings are very well integrated into Human society and may be found almost anywhere where Humans settle. However, the importance of the Moot as the Halfling homeland must not be overlooked. Roll on the following table to determine the origins of a Halfling character. Gnomes Almost all Gnomes will be from the main Gnomish community of Glimdwarrow. Those few not from this or one of the minor Gnomish settlements would be from one of the Human settlements. Family Background It might be important to know a character's family background; at least, it always helps characterise a PC. The information and methods in this section are all optional, especially where PCs are concerned. As GM, you should feel free to ignore or amend any results you don't feel comfortable with. Brothers and Sisters Notes #If the die roll is 6, roll again and add 4. #If either die rolls 4, roll again and add 3. If both dice roll 4, roll both again and add 6. Each sibling has an equal chance of being male or female (except for Dwarfs; each sibling has a 25% chance of being female) and an equal chance of being younger or older than the character. When the age difference is 0, there is a 20% chance that the character is a twin (or triplet, or whatever). Twins, triplets, and other multiple births have a 10% chance of being identical. (With Dwarfs, an age difference of 2 gives a 5% chance that the same-sex sibling is actually the character's twin; identical twins are rare in Dwarfs, and fraternal twins are all but unknown.) Parents Roll a D100 and consult the following table to see if the character's parents are still living: The older a character is, the more likely it will be that the parents have died. Modify the roll as follows: *Human: Add 10% for each full 10 years over 20 *Elf: Add 20% for each full 20 years over 160 *Dwarf: Add 10% for each full 20 years over 120 *Halfling: Add 10% for each full 10 years over 50 *Gnome: Add 20% for each full 20 years over 100 Check the following list and roll the relevant dice to determine the age of surviving parents: *Human: 15 + D6 years older than the oldest child *Elf: 60 + D20 years older than the oldest child *Dwarf: 60 + 2D10 years older than the oldest child (father); 30 + 2D10 years older than the oldest child (mother) *Halfling: 30 + D10 years older than the oldest child *Gnome: 35 + 2D6 years older than the oldest child If both parents are dead, roll a D100. On a roll of 95-99, the character was an orhpan, raised by relatives. On a roll of 00, the character was a foundling. Spouses and Children Consult the following table to see if the character has a family of his or her own (female Dwarfs add 30 to their age): The number before the slash is the percentage chance that the character has a surviving spouse; the number after the slash is the percentage chance that the character has surviving children. Generate the number of children using the Brothers and Sisters chart above. The eldest child's age can be found by following the guidelines for generating parents' ages above, taking the character's age as the parent's age and working backwards. If you feel like it, you can generate in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, and heaven knows what else for several dozen generations with this technique; Halflings in particular are very fond of genealogy, but a good spread of relatives can provide a rich depth of background (and who knows, occasional material assistance) for any character. The options above are only going to be used where you want to flesh out a PC's background or develop some ideas about an NPC. Obviously, you will have to sort out any anomalies. But even anomalies can give you insight: consider a 22-year-old male Human, his mother dead, no sisters, no wife - and with 4 kids, the eldest of whom is just one year old. None of the children turn out to be twins, so maybe they are all illegitimate or the man keeps a harem. And maybe this tells you that he has a complete disregard for women, he uses them for pleasure, but has no serious contact with them. What price his two little daughters? And how will a character like that react to a female PC? Family Occupation You can also create careers for the character's family (separate ones for each, if you prefer) by following the notes on creating NPCs. This will tell you the Career Class, final career, and career path of the character's parents and siblings. Use this information to give extra colour to your characters - perhaps mother was a Wizard, even though father was nothing more than a simple Entertainer. Or it might lead to a Roadwarden who is the brother of a Poacher! Coming up with stories to explain that can not only create more interesting characters, but can also give you ideas for adventures. You might even like to determine occupations for any siblings or other relatives, if you wish - if one parent was an Artisan, at least one child will probably follow into the family business, but otherwise you have a free choice. Dwarf Family/Clan Occupation As Dwarf clans (except for some Expatriates) are matrilineal, a Dwarf normally follows the same craft as his mother's clan, which is the same as that of the character. There is a 75% chance that a Dwarf's father will belong to the same craftguild. For the 25% of fathers who are different, use the Basic Career Tables to determine the starting basic career of the father and his clan. Expatriate Dwarfs do not follow the same strict traditions regarding clans and crafts. The starting basic careers of an Expatriate Dwarf's family may vary widely, and if required, they can be determined using the Basic Career Tables. Category:Rules Category:Character Creation